Nobody's Fool - 8 out of 10
Tea Tree Players
TICKETS: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1505718
In their first performance for 2026, Tea Tree Players have chosen to present ‘Nobody’s Fool’, a sequel to their TASA Comi-Cal award winner from 2024, ‘Nobody’s Perfect’, both written by English playwright Simon Williams. The ‘Best Little Theatre in Adelaide’ would have been hoping for a strong start, generating momentum for their season of 6 productions scheduled this year. They kicked a goal!
Alan Shepley (TASA Online) wrote in his review of ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ “the product is slick, well performed and highly entertaining.” Writing for Glam Adelaide, Brian Godfrey concluded, “I think it’s safe to say that this production of Nobody’s Perfect is one of the Players’ best that I have seen in a long time and with their usual high standards, that’s no easy call. Very well done, all!!” At face value, a hard act to follow it would seem, with inherent risks.
Sequels, whether in movies or theatre have received very mixed reviews over time, but this acclaimed English writer has avoided those traps beautifully. In this sequel, the artistic passion of the original is developed further by highlighting the growth of the characters along with an extension of the plot. New territory that supports and expands on the original production enhances its legacy.
In a recent social media post, Director Theresa Dolman explained that ‘Nobody’s Fool’ was a stand-alone play and that seeing ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ was not a pre-requisite for understanding the storylines in this performance. How right she is. The first Act takes care to deliver enough storyline context for the audience to have them looking forward, rather than looking over their shoulders to the past. Inevitably, this does lead to a little more character development than sharp character driven humour, but the pay-off comes with a sparkling second Act.
To help achieve this, Dolman has re-assembled the cast from ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ and their cast cohesion, concentration and genuine connection can be felt by the audience. Despite some very slight first night line delivery timing issues, they are in form from opening to curtain down.
Gavin Cianci reprises his role/s as the Loftus father Leonard and cross-dressing Myrtle Banbury, the queen of the romantic novel. Attempting to complete his next novel while dealing with new family challenges, he gently reveals his personal growth struggles in a consistent and sensitive performance without losing the required overall comedic tone. His role switching is well done indeed.
Rick Mills returns as Leonard’s father Gus and consistently delivers a large portion of the comedy lines one expects from an English farce. He does this with a high level of comic timing, ‘dark sheep of the family’ characterisation and control without pushing too far.
The now matured Loftus daughter Dee Dee is again played by the returning Charlie Klose. As with her father Leonard, Dee Dee has undergone some personal challenges since ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ but her best moments come in shepherding her father with love through his own struggles, never straying from that ‘teenage’ comic sarcasm any parent will recognise in a nuanced performance.
The final ‘original’ to return in this sequel is Hayley Mitchell…with a twist. Cast on this occasion as Fran Loftus, Leonard’s former wife, she performs an important role in assisting the writer in extending the original plot while at the same time, allowing the storyline to reach its satisfying conclusion. Mitchell does this with charm and wit, whilst undergoing her own character growth experience. As an aside, well done to costuming, her green ’wedding’ dress was a stunner!
Last but certainly not least, in a wonderfully contrived ensemble production, was Michelle Hrvatin in the role of Leonard’s pushy publisher Leticia Butters. Hrvatin does a wonderful job of balancing her ‘hippy’ eccentricities and man hunting inclinations with her publisher/TV host role. Her ‘bean bag’ scene with Rick Mills is well worth the wait, in the sparkling second Act that I mentioned earlier.
It is in the second Act that we truly see the traditional comic machinations of the English farce brought home with a bang, much to the delight of the engaged audience. In an intricate back and forth all the storyline threads are brought together as they should be by a cast that leans into the technical difficulty of doing so with much aplomb and skill.
Director Dolman keeps the pace of the production moving at a good pace and is assisted in this with the set design. Portraying a lounge area with a basement underneath on a single small flat stage is technically difficult. With the clever use of stairs, doorways and electronic communication props, it was easy for the audience to suspend their belief regarding the physical aspects of the stage design without any problem.
Gather ye rosebuds…no, gather for tickets to this strong opening round!
- David Kilsby
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